This invention relates to structures that can be used to make connections between tubular medical grafts and a patient's tubular body conduits. The structures of the invention can alternatively be constructed for use as medical plugs (e.g., to close atrial or ventricular septal defects). The invention also relates to methods for making and using the structures mentioned above.
Tubular grafts are frequently needed in medical procedures. For example, a coronary bypass procedure may involve the installation of a tubular graft between an aperture that has been formed in the side wall of the aorta and an aperture that has been formed in the side wall of a coronary artery downstream from an occlusion or blockage in that artery. Each end of the graft must be connected to the side wall of either the aorta or the coronary artery. Each such connection must extend annularly around the associated end of the graft conduit and be fluid-tight so that no blood will leak out. One common way to produce such connections is by suturing. It will be appreciated, however, that making such connections by suturing can be extremely difficult, time-consuming, and dependent on the skill of the physician for the quality of the results. There is also increasing interest in less invasive procedures which tend to impose constraints on the physician's access to the sites at which graft connections must be made and thereby make it more difficult or even impossible to use suturing to make such connections (see, for example, Goldsteen et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,976,178, Sullivan et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,120,432, and published PCT patent application WO 98/55027, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties). Various types of mechanical connectors have been developed to reduce or eliminate the need for suturing, but improvements are constantly sought for such mechanical connectors with respect to considerations such as ease and speed of use, ease of manufacture, strength and permanence of the resulting connection, etc.
Plugs are also needed in a variety of medical procedures. For example, it may be necessary to plug an atrial or ventricular septal defect in the heart of a new-born child. Again, improvements are constantly sought for plugs which can be easily and quickly installed using minimally invasive procedures.
In view of the foregoing, it is an object of this invention to provide improved and simplified graft connectors.
It is another object of this invention to provide improved and simplified medical plugs.
It is still another object of this invention to provide improved and simplified methods of making structures that can be used as either medical graft connectors or plugs.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide improved and simplified methods for installing medical graft connectors or plugs.